Read Ephesians 6
It’s Memorial Day weekend. It’s the time to remember those who gave
their last full measure of devotion for their country. These days we take time to remember others
who serve—firefighters, first responders, and law enforcement. That’s fine,
but the day itself was set aside to remember those who said, I will fight for
you, and who never came home to a parade or welcome of any sort.
So, Tom gets to talk a little bit
about war and combat and some memorable phrases that go with these things. We
will start in World War I.
The Marines joined in the battle later
than other allied combatants of World War I.
Up to that point, they had been used in small wars special
missions. Now they had just arrived at the front as the Germans were mounting a three-pronged
offensive.
The Marines had barely gotten into
position, digging shallow individual trenches they called “foxholes,” when the
German army renewed its offensive on June 2. Demoralized French troops in the
forest began falling back. One French officer, as he passed through the Marine
lines, advised the Americans to join in the retreat. Capt. Lloyd Williams
responded, “Retreat, hell! We just got here!” The French officer and the other
French troops continued on. Soon the Marines were alone.
What the world did not know was that
the Marines could hit a target at 600 yards and beyond with the new 03
Springfield rifles. The rest of the
world’s soldiers were good up to about 250 yards. The Marines turned the battle around, and
General John J. Pershing who didn’t really care for the Marines, but knew that
he had a winner, ordered the Expeditionary Force to the offensive.
Again, In World War I while fighting
with the 6th Marines in France against heavily fortified German
positions, First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates sent this report to his commanding
officer.
I have only two men out of my company.
We need support, but it is almost suicide to try and get it here as we are
swept by machine-gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my
left and only a few on my right. I WILL HOLD.
Ok, Tom’s not just going to talk about
Marine Corps battles and words to remember, but he will keep us in the country
of France, though at a time before our nation was conceived.
On 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin’s Day), King Henry V of England defeated a
numerically superior French force near the down of Agincourt, France. William
Shakespeare would immortalize the victory in the words of the playwright
attributed to King Henry.
From this day to the ending of the
world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of
brothers;
For
he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they
were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles
any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint
Crispin's day.
For he today
that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother
This section is about putting on the
Full Armor of God. It’s about battle. It’s about combat, but you can’t draw the
battle lines on a map.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in
his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Before we get into the armor itself,
let’s affirm where our strength in battle comes from—it is from the Lord. Think to David when he faced Goliath. Saul’s armor didn’t fit him. He couldn’t more—he couldn’t fight in it.
David already knew what was going to
happen. The battle belonged to the Lord.
He had his part but the battle belonged to the Lord. David did not
understand the armies of Israel shaking in fear.
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine
that he should defy the armies of the living God?
David’s strength was not in the armor
of men. It was in the Lord.
David said to the Philistine, “You
come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the
name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have
defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you
down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the
Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will
know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it
is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and
he will give all of you into our hands.”
You know the story. David fell Goliath with one, well-aimed
smooth stone. Then, he rushed to the fallen
body, drew the giant’s sword, and cut his head off with his own sword.
David might be what today we would
call light infantry. Modern combat has
lost that concept. Today, an infantryman
carries 60 pounds on a light day and upwards of 100 pounds on most days. It’s more if you have to dress for extreme
cold weather or chemical warfare.
The armor that you are called to wear
doesn’t weigh nearly so much. We are battling the forces of evil and we should
be equipped much like David. Paul uses
the metaphor of the armor of his day, but our victory lies in the strength of
the Lord.
But, let’s put on the armor-all of it.
The
belt of truth
The
breastplate of righteousness
Feet
fitted—these are your combat boots—with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace
The
shield of faith that extinguishes the arrows of the enemy
The
helmet of salvation
The
sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
We are not armored to fight flesh and
blood but the spiritual forces of the Evil One that work both on earth and in
the heavenly realms. These forces want
to fight in the battlefield of our minds.
They want to engage our sinful human nature.
In the examples of earthly combat, did
you note where they took place? They
were all in France. That’s over there
for the American World War I examples and across the Channel for the King of
England. That’s where we like to fight
our battles—over there.
Think how gut-wrenching the 9-11
attacks were to those of you who were alive then. They were perhaps more devastating than Pearl
Harbor was to our grandparents. Our
enemies had struck the mainland on that September day.
We want to fight our enemies on their
territory. We don’t want them here,
where we are on the defensive. But in our battle against evil, the enemy has
penetrated our lines. They're in the wire.
The enemy is within our minds.
Elsewhere, Paul counseled us to take every thought captive and make it
obedient to Christ Jesus.
We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
On most days, I charge you to love
your neighbor. Let everyone know that
you follow Jesus, not by the VBS or camp tee shirt that your wear, but by your
love. They will know that we are his
disciples by our love.
But on every day, we are to suit up
for combat with evil. We may not engage
any form of evil for the entire day but we are ready. It’s too late to go put on your gear once you
are under attack. You must show up
ready.
There are no time-outs in combat. Sure, truces are called from time to time but
consider how many combatants are still killed during a truce. There are no time-outs. You must come
prepared to fight. We are not fighting
the axis forces or a Philistine giant, but the forces of evil that exist in the
spiritual realm. Sometimes, we have to
fight them on our home turf—in our minds.
We must be able to make our stand
where the enemy brings the fight to us.
We must be able to say, I will hold.
So, we must be strong in the Lord and
in his mighty power. Our part is to put
on the full armor of God.
We are to be equipped with truth,
righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God. We are well equipped for the fight—for the
battles ahead.
And Paul adds that we are to pray for
each other. We have our individual
battles, but battles are won by mutual support.
I pray for you and you pray for me.
Suit up and fight not only for
yourself but for one another. The
victory is already won in the blood of Christ Jesus, but we still have battles
to fight.
Gear up.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment